Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Depression and anxiety are those mental disorders that can occur in a certain point in the life of everyone. They do not discriminate. Of course, there are factors which make one more or less predisposed, but in general, a major depressive episode can occur. It is often associated with fatigue and causes those who experience it to feel extremely low.

There are many ways to fight depression, but if you are here wanting to know more about anti-depressants, I am going to disappoint you. Instead, I will try to explain to you, how through improving your indoor air, cleaning and exercising daily you can fight this nasty disorder.It is well known from long ago that we need fresh air to live and function normally. Fresh air provides all the cells in our body with the oxygen they need to function, reproduce, heal and keep our bodies alive. In addition, psychological research shows that fresh air keeps our brain working faster and better and promotes healthy levels of serotonin. For those, who don't know, serotonin is a "feel-good" neurotransmitter. It makes you feel happy, in other words. Keeping indoor air fresh is challenging-it really is.

According to research the air indoors is around 200% more polluted that the air outside. This is largely because of toxic cleaning detergents and artificial air fresheners. A case study showed that a certain detergent caused an asthma outbreak in a school in the USA. Cleaning our homes, schools and offices properly will enhance our health too. Here are a few things, that will make you feel good and will improve the quality of the air in your home.

1. Clean often. Maybe you don't feel like it during a depressive episode, but have you heard the famous expression "idle hands, idle mind". Keeping busy will keep your mind off things, and even if it doesn’t at least you will feel a bit better when you finish and notice how spotless your home is. In addition, whether you realize it, or not, you would have killed dust mites and sucked all the dust that pollute the air indoors.

2. When you clean, choose cleaners carefully. According to professional cleaners, most detergents we buy from superstores release toxic fumes and pollute the air at home. In order to avoid that, I would advise you to use natural cleaners such as baking soda, white distilled vinegar, salt and lemon juice. Those are perfectly safe, even for children and pregnant women. Commercials always try to convince you that ONLY their cleaners can get the job done, but nature has created her own cleaners.

3. Never smoke inside the house, nor should you allow your guests to do so. This pollutes the air a great deal, is bad for your health and is bad for your walls and furniture.

4. Open the windows often if the weather allows it. Stay with your windows open or if possible leave them open overnight. This will help you get good sleep. Sleeping disorder is not uncommon during episodes of depression and so, fresh air can help your brain relax and even if you sleep 6 hours it will feel enough.

5. Exercise outside. We all do some exercises from time to time, but most of us are actually too lazy to leave the home, or go to sweaty gyms for the purpose. Well, what I would advise you, is to jog outside, or just spend some more time under the sun. This will actually make you feel better.

6. Clean your carpets. This may seem as the last thing you would like to do to fight depression, but it will be actually very helpful to ensure you breathe fresh air at home. According to professional cleaners, clean carpets not only feel good, are fluffy and dust mite-free, but smell very nice and will definitely put you in a better mood.

Lana Jane Fox is author at LeraBlog. The author's views are entirely his/her own and may not reflect the views and opinions of LeraBlog staff. Lana Jane Fox is a young, aspiring housewife, currently living in a lovely one bedroom apartment in North Melbourne, that she shares with her adorable husband Stephen. At present her primary job is to be a good wife and a helpmeet to Stephen and only after that she describes herself as a freelancer, blogger and a marketing executive. In her free time Lana runs a blog, inspired by her own experiences as a young housewife. When she is not knitting, cleaning, organizing, or experimenting with DIY projects, Lana is planning her next road trip, or spends precious time with her husband. She dreams of having a baby boy, a Welsh Corgi dog and a house with a fireplace and a garden where she can grow organic food.